Appetite for Destruction was rock and roll band Guns N' Roses' breakthrough album. Beginning with the hit "Welcome to the Jungle", Appetite for Destruction combined elements of glam metal, then-groundbreaking thrash metal bands and classic, anthemic choruses. The album was a #1 American hit and worldwide sales exceeded 25 million. It is an RIAA Certified Diamond Album.

"Welcome to the Jungle", "Paradise City", and "Sweet Child O' Mine" are all enduring songs, highly characteristic of Guns N' Roses and influential in the American popular music scene, as well as frequent covers.

While the songwriting credits are indiscriminately credited to all five band members, many of the songs were solo tracks that individual band members wrote in the pre-GNR era. These songs include "It's So Easy" and "Nightrain" (McKagan), "Mr. Brownstone", "Anything Goes" and "Think About You" (Stradlin). "Rocket Queen" and "Paradise City" were unfinished Rose and McKagan demos respectively that the band fleshed out in its early days.

Other songshghgh on the album reflect the band's reaction to the debauchery of the L.A. rock and roll underground, such as "Welcome to the Jungle" (ironically, Axl Rose wrote the lyrics while in Seattle) and "Out Ta Get Me", as well their assorted female companions, reflected in the songs "Sweet Child O' Mine", "My Michelle", and "You're Crazy."

The album is among the best selling albums in history; at least 15 million copies were sold in United States alone. However, one year after it was released in 1987, the album had sold only 500,000 copies. The reason was that MTV refused to play any Guns N' Roses videos because the album's original cover, based on the Robert Williams painting Appetite for Destruction, depicting a robot rapist about to be punished by a toothy metal avenger, was considered offensive by MTV. The band compromised, and put the original cover art inside, replacing it with a cover depicting a crucifix and skulls of the five band members (Rose has this design tattooed on his right forearm), somewhat like Grateful Dead album artwork. This compromise was not good enough for MTV, and the network continued the video ban. Finally, David Geffen then president of Geffen Records called MTV and begged them to play the Welcome to the Jungle video. MTV agreed to play it once, at 2 o'clock in the morning. The song became MTV's #1 most requested song in 24 hours.

Some trivia concerning the album's recording: for the moans during the break of "Rocket Queen", is has been rumoured that Axl Rose literally brought a girl friend into the recording studio and recorded himself having intercourse with her. Also, essentially all of Slash's beloved guitar work on the album was recorded not on a Gibson Les Paul as is commonly assumed, but rather on a superior hand-made imitation guitar, which remains his favoured instrument for the studio, though he no longer uses it onstage.

In 2001, Q magazine named Appetite for Destruction as one of the 50 Heaviest Albums Of All Time. In 2003, the TV network, VH1, named Appetite for Destruction the 42nd greatest album of all time.

Track listing

1. "Welcome to the Jungle" (Music: Slash, Rose / Lyrics: Rose) - 4:32
2. "It's So Easy" (Music: McKagan, Arkeen / Lyrics: McKagan, Arkeen ) - 3:21
3. "Nightrain" (Music: Stradlin, McKagan, Rose, Slash / Lyrics: McKagan, Rose) - 4:26
4. "Out Ta Get Me" (Music: Slash, Rose, Stradlin / Lyrics: Rose, Stradlin) - 4:20
5. "Mr. Brownstone" (Music: Stradlin, Slash / Lyrics: Stradlin) - 3:46
6. "Paradise City" (Music: McKagan, Slash, Rose, Stradlin / Lyrics: Rose, McKagan) - 6:45
7. "My Michelle" (Music: Rose, Stradlin / Lyrics: Rose) - 3:38
8. "Think About You" (Music: Stradlin / Lyrics: Stradlin) - 3:49
9. "Sweet Child O' Mine" (Music: Rose, Slash, Stradlin / Lyrics: Rose) - 5:54
10. "You're Crazy" (Music: Slash, Stradlin, Rose / Lyrics: Rose, Stradlin) - 3:16
11. "Anything Goes" (Music: Stradlin, Rose, Weber / Lyrics: Stradlin, Rose) - 3:25
12. "Rocket Queen" (Music: Rose, Slash, Stradlin / Lyrics: Rose) - 6:14

Personnel

• Robert John - Photography
• Izzy Stradlin - Guitar (Rhythm), Percussion, Guitar (Lead), Vocals (bckgr)
• Steven Adler - Drums
• Michael Barbiero - Mixing
• Mike Clink - Producer
• Victor Deyglio - Assistant Engineer
• Greg Freeman
• George Marino - Mastering
• Duff "Rose" McKagan - Guitar (Bass), Vocals (bckgr)
• Jeff Poe - Assistant Engineer
• Dave Reitzas - Assistant Engineer
• Axl Rose - Vocals (Lead), Synthesizer, Percussion, Vocals (bckgr)
• Micajah Ryan - Assistant Engineer
• Slash - Guitar (Acoustic), Guitar (Lead), Guitar (Rhythm)
• Julian Stoll - Assistant Engineer
• Steve Thompson - Mixing
• Robert Williams - Paintings
• Andy Udoff - Assistant Engineer
• Jack Lue - Photography
• Michael Hodgson - Art Direction, Design

Chart positions

Guns N' Roses albums | 1987 albums | Debut albums

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